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Student Mobility in the Wake of COVID-19: The Mainland Chinese Parent Perspective
Get PDFThis study explores the perspectives of mainland Chinese parents on outbound international student mobility (ISM) following the COVID-19 pandemic. A narrative study situated in the qualitative paradigm, this study is informed by the push-pull theory of international student mobility and employed a socio-cultural framework based on the traditional Confucian value system and recent developments in mainland Chinese education. Through semi-structured interviews, the following research questions were addressed: What are mainland Chinese parents’ perspectives on outbound student mobility post-COVID-19? How has the pandemic transformed their motivations, needs, and expectations of international education?
Findings revealed that parents have sustained interest in sending their children abroad to study in the wake of the pandemic, but that they will delay their plans. Key reasons for delay included health and personal safety and a newfound appreciation of Chinese cultural capital. Key push/pull factors sustaining ISM include limitations of the Chinese domestic education system and the breadth of pedagogical options abroad. This study has implications in the development of international programming and marketing strategies for international student recruitment.
Key Terms: Confucianism, cultural capital, Gaokao, holistic education, international student mobility, pandemic, push-pull model, safety
An Analysis of the Role of Gender in Political News Media Coverage
Get PDFAlthough there has been a decrease in specific exclusionary rules in governments around the world, most nations are very far from a governing body which represents the diversity that exists within their borders. There are many issues which may dissuade previously marginalized populations from political participation. One of these problems when it comes to female participation, is differential political news coverage. This study looked at how media sources set the political agenda and frame news stories in terms of the gender of a politician, and how this can create an additional challenge for women in government. The investigation found that women are not only often excluded from conversations about topics like economics and military, but they are disproportionately asked about issues related to things like women’s rights, creating the narrative that this must be a policy priority. The study also found that politicians, such as Angela Merkel, face more scrutiny than male counterparts to make equality legislation a policy priority, disregarding all other aspects of her belief or policies. This highlights the need to separate arbitrary traits from the identities of politicians, in order to hold all government officials accountable to contribute to equal representation
A Phenological Analysis of Páramo Vegetation Along an Altitudinal Gradient: The Influence of Camelids on Andean Flora in the Páramo of Chimborazo, Ecuador
No full textThis study hopes to reveal the mechanisms behind camelid-plant interactions in the Chimborazo province of Ecuador, which is known for having a large population of domesticated alpacas (Vicugna pacos), along with wild vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) that were reintroduced into the area 30 years ago. These camelid species, especially vicuñas, are understudied within Ecuador in regards to their effects on plant composition, diversity, and spatial phenology. To gain a better insight into this topic, three sites were chosen: a site inhabited by only vicuña, a site inhabited by only alpaca, and a site inhabited by both species. The vicuña site sat at the highest elevation, and the alpaca site at the lowest. Three circular quadrats with a ten-meter radius were set up in each site, and the main plant species were counted and recorded for total population and the presence of and number of senescing leaves, flowers, fruits, and dying leaves. Both the vicuña and alpaca site followed the patterns expected with increasing altitude. This includes a higher percentage of senescing, flowering, and fruiting plants at lower altitudes and higher proportions of plants with dying leaves at higher altitudes. The combined site, however, did not follow these patterns. It not only had the lowest species evenness, but the species here that were found in all three sits also had a number of phenological differences that did not fall under any kind of altitudinal or microclimatic explanation. This disruption in the expected phenological gradient is possibly due to high grazing pressures and trampling done by both the large populations of alpaca and vicuña that graze in the area. Consequences include disruption in pollination and the reproductive success of páramo flora
An evaluation of the organic carbon content found in Fucus vesiculosus and Ascophyllum nodosum from Skutulsfjörður and Eyjafjörður, Iceland
Get PDFIn response to global warming and changing climate, carbon sequestration through macroalgal cultivation has emerged as a possible climate change mitigation technique. Macroalgal cultivation’s relationship to carbon sequestration however is still not well understood. It is imperative to understand macroalgae’s connection to carbon sequestration to evaluate if macroalgal cultivation can help combat climate change. There is a gap in literature regarding the carbon content of Icelandic macroalgae and therefore the contribution of Icelandic macroalgae to national and global carbon sequestration estimates. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap by evaluating organic carbon content of Fucus vesiculosus and Ascophyllum nodosum from Skutulsfjörður in the Westfjords and Eyjafjörður in Northern Iceland. F. vesiculosus and A. nodosum were analyzed to determine if species or location influenced organic carbon content. An elevated average percent organic carbon content of 62% organic carbon was discovered in the macroalgae. Further, a significant difference in mean carbon content for macroalgae from Eyjafjörður and macroalgae from Skutulsfjörður was discovered, with Eyjafjörður macroalgae exhibiting significantly higher mean carbon content than Skutulsfjörður macroalgae (t = -3.9133, df = 21.271, p-value= 0.0007836,
Abundance, foraging levels, and dietary preferences of Chaetodon capistratus on reefs surrounding Porvenir Island in the Guna Yala Comarca of Panamá
Get PDFReef fish are a physically and functionally diverse group of organisms that live in close association with coral reef habitats. Chaetodontidae represents the most species rich family of corallivorous fish, and their reliance on corals as food resources has led to their designation as indicator species of coral cover and health. However, the majority of research on the foraging ecology of Caribbean Chaetodontids dates back several decades, and therefore does not account for recent changes in coral community composition as the result of disease, climate change, and other stressors. As the novel and deadly stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) epidemic causes mass mortality of reef building corals on Caribbean reefs, corallivores are expected to be among the first species impacted by changing reef conditions. Therefore, baseline data on population sizes and behaviors are needed from healthy reefs in order to fully understand the shifts that are occurring on diseased reefs. Here, benthic surveys and focal follow methods were used to investigate the abundances, foraging behaviors, and dietary preferences of C. capistratus populations on reefs without SCTLD near Porvenir Island in the Guna Yala Comarca of Panamá. C. capistratus were found to forage more often than expected on less abundant coral species including Siderastrea spp., Orbicella spp., and brain corals, and less often than expected on more abundant coral species including Agaricia spp. and Porites spp. C. capistratus was also observed foraging on sand and algae substrates in addition to coral prey. Therefore, this research supports previous classifications of C. capistratus as an active generalist, but disputes the designation of C. capistratus as an anthozoan specialist. Contrary to previous findings, the abundance of C. capistratus was not positively correlated with coral cover. This is potentially explained by the wider dietary niche reported for the studied population in comparison to other populations of C. capistratus. The diverse diet observed here suggests that C. capistratus populations exhibit behavioral and dietary plasticity, and can exploit reefs with varying degrees of coral cover. This dietary flexibility may be important for the resilience of the species in the face of dramatic losses of live coral cover due to SCTLD
Intercultural Communicative Competence: A Necessary Ability for All
Get PDFIn today’s world, there is a growing need to promote intercultural communicative competence (ICC) due to increasingly multilingual and multicultural societies. Moreover, more people today have contact across cultures than ever before in human history. For these reasons, ICC has become a national and international imperative and a necessary ability for all. In response, many higher education institutions seek to internationalize curricula; however, often without a coherent plan to provide intercultural education to all students. ICC is promoted primarily through study abroad programs; however, only a small percentage of students participate. Similarly, civic aid organizations in various countries promote ICC through international service programs; however, only a small percentage of their populations participate. This paper explores these activities in the United States -- with references to other countries -- and proposes a definition of ICC that includes host language ability as a fundamental component. It then considers the benefits of ICC based on data from two research projects conducted in eight countries. These studies identify attributes attained by participants in intercultural exchanges, and assess their impact on the lives of participants. The positive benefits of developing ICC are cited including their contributions toward promoting tolerance, understanding, and respect for an increasingly diverse world
ANTICIPATING CHANGE: Multi-tier Framework for a Sustainable Energy Transition
Get PDFTransitioning the Energy Sector from fossil fuels to renewable energy is perhaps the biggest opportunity to sustainably mitigate climate change. This paper presents a multi-tier holistic framework to score and visually represent the key features of sustainability that could influence the long-term success of the energy transition in different social, ecological, and economic contexts. The framework is applied in detail to Morocco and Italy. The complexity of the concept of sustainability calls for a tool that can help stakeholders locate and address priority areas. Five dimensions of sustainability have been described: institutional, environmental, social, economic, and technical. These are divided into variables and scored via indicators. To ensure the accessibility and credibility of results, all selected indicators were sourced from public and widely available data. The resulting framework can be adapted to different situations and scales to support management choices. To the author’s knowledge, previous studies have either dealt with sustainability in broader terms or analyzed only one specific dimension of it. This study considers sustainability as a foundation to enable a fair and efficient transition to renewable energy, analyzing important interactions between sustainability dimensions. Main reflections found in this study include a) measuring sustainability in all its dimensions is crucial to set priorities; b) transversal and intersectoral approaches will gain relevance due to the interconnections between elements of sustainability; c) communication, and awareness are crucial to increase bottom-up participation to the energy transition both for climate change mitigation and adaptation
Examining factors associated with BCG and Poliomyelitis vaccination coverage in Tanzanian and Kenyan children aged 12 to 23 months using DHS surveys
Get PDFThe rapid spread of infectious diseases in eastern Africa has made vaccination a major health factor in the region. This study aims to evaluate the factors affecting vaccination coverage with the BCG and Poliomyelitis vaccines in Tanzanian and Kenyan children aged 12 to 23 months. In May 2021, we collected data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 2014-2016 for Kenya and Tanzania and evaluated how different variables such as the sex of the child, maternal age, maternal educational level, availability of health facilities, access to electricity in the household, and birth order affect the vaccination coverage. We used Pearson’s chi-squared tests with Yates’ continuity correction and Welch Two Sample t-tests to analyze the dependence of vaccination coverage on different variables. We found out that the sex of the child, access to electricity and birth order do not affect the BCG and Poliomyelitis vaccination coverage, but variables such as the child receiving at least one of the vaccines, maternal age, maternal education, and availability of health facilities significantly affect the BCG and Poliomyelitis vaccination coverage in Tanzania and Kenya
To New Geographies: Implementing U.S. Department of Energy Order 151.1D, Comprehensive Emergency Management System
Get PDFEmergency Management programs at National Nuclear Security Administration facilities are governed by federal policy directive Department of Energy Order 151.1D, Comprehensive Emergency Management System. The prescriptions within the Order are often at odds with industry-standard frameworks and vocabularies established by the Department of Homeland Security. Boleman and Deal’s Four Frame Model offers the tenets of the Political, Structural, Human Resource, and Symbolic lens perspectives to clarify the nature of disparate programs precipitant from disparate agency policies. This project utilizes a Phenomenological Interpretivist Framework for qualitative research to triangulate data across textual analyses, public perception, and practitioner experience, thus identifying how Emergency Managers might successfully interpret the Order to develop Department of Energy programs at the human scale. Findings reveal an imperfect policy crafted by specialists, reliant on atypical definitions that fail to align human need with the skillsets demanded of practitioners who must collaborate with their offsite counterparts in a technical language. Practitioner input and whole-community feedback might inform the future revision of Order 151.1D, and supporting texts, to emphasize human scale implementation through adoption of a lingua franca and a nurturing of the Culture of Emergency Preparedness. Boleman and Deal’s Human Resource Frame allows practitioners to align mission deliverables with emergency response functions
INCORPORATING EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE INTO FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATION SERVICES AS A BETTER MEANS TO MANAGE HIV/AIDS IN SOUTHERN CAMEROON.
No full textCameroon is among the Central African countries most affected by HIV/AIDS. The epidemic remains a pressing issue for policymakers and the healthcare system. According to UNICEFs’ Cameroon Country Program 2018–2020 (UNICEF 2018), 3.4% of the population harbors this disease because there is still no cure. The methods to slow the transmission of infection are to prevent people from doing dangerous things and security (Coates & Caceres 2008). A plethora of evidence suggested that in situations where religious organizations emphasize behavior change, like in abstinence and fidelity, the behaviors changed dramatically. But the question is, for how long? I argue that incorporating Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) into FBOs\u27 services and programs will help them manage HIV/AIDS more effectively in Southern Cameroon. I conducted this research with a literature review, key informant interviews, and online networks. FBOs are not better managers because of their faithfulness, but instead because they are a better alternative to the Cameroon Government. Evidence suggests that FBOs are less corrupt, more results-oriented, and are well-grounded in the suburbs, areas that the Government fears to tread. Most importantly, one should understand that raising awareness and promoting education as the primary tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS is not enough. It is an essential part of the strategy, but not the sole element of it. There are few guarantees that Education/communication will prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. This paper expounds on the corrupt nature of both the Cameroon Government and FBOs, concluding that the perception of corruption is a function of societal expectations and is affected by individual values and desires.
Keywords: Cameroon HIV/AIDS, the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa, evidence-based practice and FBOs, faith-based organizations and HIV/AIDS